When Henry met Sully!
You may remember an American movie called "When Harry met Sally", this post could be entitled: "When Henry met Sully"! Both men were born on 13 December, six years apart. Henry will be King of Navarre (a province between France and Spain), and years later King of France as Henry IV; Sully will serve as his finance minister and become the Duc de Sully.
They met when young Sully's father approched Henry (then King of Navarre) and offered his son to serve him, knowing this would ensure a better future for his son. And it did as he served him well and loyally his whole life until Henry was assassinated.
Sully successfully managed to tax the aristocracy while lowering taxes paid by peasants. Sully's wise financial management left a surplus in the state funds as opposed to a deficit, a rare case in the history of France. He could have taught a lesson or two to the current French bureaucrats... But hey, I promised I wouldn’t get into politics...